This invention relates in general to interior components, such as seats, door panels, and map pockets. This invention relates in particular to interior components having illuminated features.
Illumination of interior components for functional and aesthetic purposes is known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,854,869 and 6,450,678 disclose seats including an outer covering having an illuminated elongated light guide assembly attached thereto. In one instance, the light guide assembly includes an optical wave guide and a hollow carrier. In another instance, the light guide is a fiber optic bundle consisting of a plurality of filaments. The hollow carrier includes a cylindrical portion and two opposed, projecting legs that are separable therebetween. In order to insert the optical wave guide, the hollow carrier is laid open and the optical wave guide is positioned within the cylindrical portion. The projecting legs are brought together such that the cylindrical portion encircles the optical wave guide. The projecting legs of the hollow carrier are then bonded together at a single point to secure the optical wave guide therein and form the light guide assembly. The light guide assembly is stitched into a seam on the seat cover and connected to a source of light at one end for illuminating the light guide. The opposing end of the light guide assembly includes a reflector or optical coupler. The construction of such a light guide assembly requires additional processing steps which add expense and the potential for quality problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,907 discloses a light emitting fabric that includes fiber optic filaments that may be woven together. The filaments may be then interwoven with conventional yarns or threads to form a fabric. The fiber optic filaments are notched for lateral light transmission from the filaments. There is a light source at one end of the filaments and a reflective device at an opposed end. U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,448 discloses the woven fiber optic panel incorporated into a seat back pocket. While the interwoven filaments and thread may produce an illuminated effect, creating a patterned effect or providing localized light emission may result in customized woven fabrics for specific needs. As such, the flexibility to change existing designs may be more cumbersome.
Thus, it would be desirable to create an illuminated interior component that is inexpensive to produce, provides an aesthetic or functional localized light pattern, and increases flexibility of interior component design.